Carbon

Caused mainly by the burning of fossil energies, CO2 is one of the greenhouse gases most responsible for climate change. AccorHotels is committed to reducing its energy consumption with the goal of limiting its carbon footprint.

7. Reduce our energy useEver more scarce and costly, fossil energies are a major challenge for our increasingly energy-intensive society. Along with technological innovations, energy savings represent a solution to this problem.

Overall, 75% of the energy consumed by AccoHotelsr is in its hotels, the vast majority of which have been equipped with energy-efficient light bulbs. Maintenance programs to optimize its facilities’ operations have also been strengthened. AccorHotels has developed a methodology called BOOST, which is based on an analysis of technical installations in its hotels. It has helped to significantly reduce water and energy consumption – up to 25% for some hotels - solely through employee training programs and action plans, without any additional investment in hotel installations.

At year-end 2014:

96% of hotels monitored and analyzed their energy consumption on a monthly basis ;

98% of hotels ensured optimal equipment settings ;

95% of hotels used low-consumption bulbs for 24/7 lighting.

8. Reduce our CO2 emissionsDespite the large number of climate summit conferences and strict regulations, CO2 emissions continue to rise. The Group’s environmental impact study showed that 66% of its greenhouse gas emissions come from fuel burned in the hotels, while 15% was agriculture-related, mainly for livestock feed and food transport.

It addition to its efforts to reduce energy use, AccorHotels has launched a project to reduce the carbon impact of its food services offering. Between 2011 and 2013, on the basis of Energy Reporting data AccorHotels noted that its greenhouse gas emissions had increased by 0.6% at comparable scope of reporting. This was partly due to hotel acquisitions and sales, and partly to the quality of the data supplied in 2011.

At year-end 2014:

46% of the hotels are equipped with a timer for common area air conditioning;

70% of hotel used energy-efficient air conditioning equipment.

9. Increase the use of renewable energyEnergy solutions abound, ranging from thermal and photovoltaic solar panels to geothermal and biomass energy. However, before these solutions can be broadly deployed, they must be tested and adapted to specific hotel features.

AccorHotels has already equipped a large number of hotels with solar panels to produce domestic hot water and is carrying out a range of experiments involving new technologies. In Cambodia, for example, the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra is pursuing an original initiative. Organic waste is “methanized” to produce gas used for cooking. The solution uses bacteria to decompose organic waste anaerobically (i.e. in an air-tight container), thereby producing methane, a biogas that is then used to prepare 700 meals a day for employees.

At year-end 2014:

195 hotels around the world were equipped with solar panels to produce domestic hot water ;